At SHARE in Atlanta in 2012, I recorded a long discussion with the late Dr. John Ehrman about the history and culture of the mainframe, SHARE, architecture and programming languages as seen from his experience and perspective. This is the first in a series of articles that will share these insights.

If there’s one thing that everyone in this country can agree on, it’s that our politics have reached zeniths in polarization and hyperbole. It seems that the little that the government does remains free of this treatment and that includes the mainframe’s position in IT.